The Warrior

I was all set to compose a long, rant of a post about why high school students don't really need cell phones (and the drama that inevitably comes with them), when I sat down at the computer and found my husband's notebook laying out ... He is currently taking an online Introductory Education course, a requirement for his degree of choice.

On the top page, written neatly in his cursive handwriting, was a brief note about someone named "Ruby Payne." Having gone through an education curriculum myself as I prepared to become a teacher a couple years ago, I was surprised that I had never heard of her.

Apparently, she said:

"People in poverty have three driving forces: relationships, entertainment, and survival."

Although I'm not teaching at an inner-city school anymore, I am still dealing with a lot of students who live at or near the poverty level, so this statement rings incredibly true for me. If I had to think about it, and categorize all of my day-to-day complaints, they probably would fall under one of those three forces.

Relationships. My students feel the need to talk (or communicate ... Hence the postponed rant about cell phones) to each other constantly. In the halls or during class, to other students or teachers like me, it really doesn't make much difference ... If someone is in earshot of them, they will make their voices heard! While talking about science is always welcome in my classroom, these kids aren't interested in that. They want gossip, stories from friends, or just that personal connection to another human being. I even have a student that, instead of sitting in his seat during study hall, gradually wanders out toward the doorway, presumably to chat with any of his buddies that happen to pass by during that fifty minute period.

Entertainment. Each day, at least one student will ask me: "Are we doing something fun today?" They want to be entertained. Unfortunately for them, our definitions of "fun" are quite often very different ... And they end up bored instead. These kids can't sit still for five, let alone fifty, minutes at a time, so they demand a good performance if they are going to behave like decent human beings. Even though I'm no stranger to the stage (I'm a drama geek through and through), I'm not exactly used to turning flips and using funny voices to keep their attention. It's, sadly, not uncommon to "lose them" to talking (see Relationships) every now and then. I'm pretty adaptable, so I've found that visual things (like demonstrations, hand gestures, my pacing around the room like a caged tiger) tend to hold their attention more than if I just speak to them from the front of the class. One of these days I should throw myself across the floor to keep things interesting ...

Survival. As much as it pains me to say it, many of my students do not care about science (or school for that matter). It just doesn't apply to them. It doesn't hold any value ... They don't think they are going to college, anyway. Students are simply there in their seats because they have to be. They don't participate. They don't review or study. Rather than try to excel (or, oftentimes, just try), they simply get through the day with as little effort as possible, so that they can go home and move on with their lives. This perceived misuse of their time and talent breeds apathy, and apathy often results in missing work ... Even work that is done together during class somehow fails to reach my desk.

Thanks to Ms. Payne, I have a better understanding as to why my students do the things they do. On some level, they can't help it. It is a part of who they are ... But that doesn't make things any less troubling.

Being a teacher and trying to inspire a generation of kids that think completely differently than yourself is, at best, an uphill battle. Some days I am up to the challenge ... Others, I just don't think that I'm strong enough to even make a dent in the front lines.